- 02: SALIF KEITA, 76, Mali, Marseille and Saint-Etienne footballer
- 09: MANGOSUTHU BUTHELEZI, 95, Zulu prince and veteran South African politician
- 10: IAN WILMUT, 79, pioneering British embryologist who led team that in 1996 created Dolly, the cloned sheep
- 15: FERNANDO BOTERO, 91, Colombian sculptor famous for his voluptuous forms
- 27: MICHAEL GAMBON, 82, British actor, played Albus Dumbledore in many Harry Potter films
- 25: MATTEO MESSINA DENARO, 61, one of the most ruthless Sicilian mafia bosses dies in prison
- 29: DIANNE FEINSTEIN, 90, trailblazing politician dubbed the Lioness of the US Senate
- 13: HUBERT REEVES, 91, Canadian-French astrophysicist, renowned for popularising space science
- 13: LOUISE GLUCK, 80, American poet, winner of Nobel and Pulitzer prizes
- 15: GISELLE KHOURY, 67, grande dame of Arab journalism
- 21: BOBBY CHARLTON, 86, English football hero, World Cup winner, Manchester United legend
- 27: LI KEQIANG, 68, Chinese premier during the first two five-year terms of President Xi Jinping
- 28: MATTHEW PERRY, 54, US star who played Chandler Bing in hit sitcom Friends dies after a long battle with addiction
- 19: ROSALYNN CARTER, 96, former US first lady who championed human rights, democracy and public health
- 29: HENRY KISSINGER, 100, US diplomat whose unapologetic promotion of raw American power helped shape the post-World War II world
- 30: SHANE MACGOWAN, 65, Irish singer-songwriter and booze-fuelled bard who fronted Celtic folk-punk band The Pogues
- 11: BULELWA MKUTUKANA aka ZAHARA, 36, South African afro-pop sensation, who suffered from liver damage due to alcoholism, dies in hospital
- 01: SANDRA DAY O'CONNOR, 93, the first woman to serve as a justice on the US Supreme Court, appointed by Ronald Reagan in 1981
- 08: RYAN O'NEAL, 82, US actor and heartthrob of Love Story and Barry Lyndon fame
Dec 19 2023.
Crime: